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Why was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze snubbed by gaming journalists?

Kacho

Member
Have you played it?

You want to know why it was snubbed?

It's not indie.
It's 2D. By Nintendo, on Wii U no less. And it's difficult as fuck.

It was my GOTY last year and it's a shame that many gamers passed up one of the best 2D platformers in years because it's fucking Donkey Kong. You did good Retro.

Hahaha it's so fucking true.
 
I gave it a 9.4 but nintendon.it is still not that relevant. I think that many journalists just tell what people wants to hear, and this was "fucking Donkey Kong".
 
Because 2D platformers is a genre of the past for many. They think is an easy and cheap way to make games because a lot of them don't understand how much work is needed to make levels as great as the ones Tropical Freeze has without recycling ideas or assets, and achieving a game that works perfectly in both a slow and a speed-running pace.

And on top of that, Retro Studios was supposed to showcase the capacities of Wii U with a big "proper" 3D game like Metroid Prime, so the disappointment was even bigger.

I think Tropical Freeze is easily the best Wii U game, along with Bayonetta 2, so this really bothers me. The hard mode is just pure, unadulterated gaming sex.
 

WillyFive

Member
Rayman Legends did everything it did but better, there's really little reason to make it seem like a big deal. I loved the Rareware-quality music, but outside of that, it was more of the same on a system that already has great platforming entries.
 

Randomizer

Member
Such opinions. Both modern Rayman games do literally everything better than their DK counterparts. IMO, of course.
Rayman Origins is also one of my favourite 2D platformers but Legends had such a massive drop in level design quality and challenge. The levels we're very slow and too similar. Still a great game but not top tier.
 

Bedlam

Member
I know I sound ridiculous and I'm one of the biggest DK fans around. But the game and everything I've seen of it (and I've seen quite a bit) just doesn't really impress me. :( Even I can't believe I'm saying this!
Clearly, you haven't seen enough. You should play it, honestly.
 

Kenai

Member
At first I was going to say it was released super early in the year (and that still probably has something to do with it).

But after reading through most of this thread, I'm thinking a lot of people probably never bothered to play it at all. Where is that Super Paper Mario gif when you need it.
 
Rayman Origins is also one of my favourite 2D platformers but Legends had such a massive drop in level design quality and challenge. The levels we're very slow and too similar. Still a great game but not top tier.

I agree that Legends was a step down. I still think it's better than both DKCR games, though. I'm just not that into Retro's style of platformer.
 
I played the first one on 3DS and couldn't really get into it, which is why I skipped the sequel. It's really hard to describe what I didn't like about the game though. It wasn't too hard (I enjoyed its difficulty), the graphics were fine, the music was good (not as amazing as I hear some people saying, but there were definitely a few great ones), and the levels were varied enough to keep things interesting so it managed to avoid my complaints with the New Super Mario series. But after a few hours of playing it I just wasn't really enjoying playing it.

For me it legitimately might have been a case of being too hyped for me before I played the first one. I had a similar reaction when I finally played Spelunky after hearing about it for a year or so about how amazing it was, which made me pick it up only to find out that it wasn't really my cup of tea. I can appreciate the strengths of the game, but my personally experience just wasn't as enjoyable as I had expected.
 

MrBadger

Member
To address one of the more popular criticisms, could anybody tell me what these amazing and much cheaper indie games are? Shovel Knight is the only one that comes to mind that I find equal to what Nintendo does in the platforming genre. Everything else feels inferior, or excels in something that isn't pure platforming (braid, for its puzzles and Trine (is that even indie?) for its visuals for example)
 

KDC720

Member
It's a pretty fun platformer, but other than the music (which was amazing) it didn't really leave a lasting impression on me. The way they handled momentum was something I never got comfortable with, even after having finished it.

It's a good game no doubt. I had a lot of fun with it and I walked away with a positive view of the game as a whole, but it's not the second coming of jesus like a lot of people on GAF like to hype it as.

This is how I felt about the game as well. It's great, and absolutely worth a play, but I don't think its the most amazing platformer of our time.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
short?!?! it took me 40 hours to play all the levels in the game

On how long to beat, DKC Returns for completionist takes about 37 hours. Tropical Freeze is 29 hours for completionist.

I haven't played Tropical Freeze because I'm hurting for money right now but in Returns there were a lot of cart and scrolling levels. Too many if you ask me, almost an entire world dedicated to them. How much has changed with Tropical freeze?
 
Platformers aren't a dying breed to many oldschool gamers but unfortunately in this day and age, they aren't respected as much for the tour de force genre the best of their kind make it and this game is one of the better platformers out there, now and anytime.

Retro have done no wrong so far, they're batting 1000.
 
Clearly, you haven't seen enough. You should play it, honestly.

You're probably right, I might change my tune if I gave it a real go which I haven't other than the demo stations. I'm hoping it's a Club Nintendo Platinum reward myself, I got a good feeling it might be. :p
 
Platformers aren't a dying breed to many oldschool gamers but unfortunately in this day and age, they aren't respected as much for the tour de force genre the best of their kind make it and this game is one of the better platformers out there, now and anytime.

Retro have done no wrong so far, they're batting 1000.

TP is great but I'll be pretty disappointed if they show off another DKC game at this E3. I really want to see them go back to a fully 3D world.
 
TP is great but I'll be pretty disappointed if they show off another DKC game at this E3. I really want to see them go back to a fully 3D world.

It's funny, that was the majority view with the announcement but as I played Tropical Freeze, the first thing that came to mind as I was going through it was that I would be more than happy if their next game is ANOTHER 2D Donkey Kong.

With that said though, I think they are making Metroid.

I don't think they are making a 3D platformer/adventurer but who knows???
 
I will never forgive the man that created the "something fan want us to do!" fake with all those expectations about uber-graphics Metroid goodness. Part of Gaf probably still believes in it.
 
On how long to beat, DKC Returns for completionist takes about 37 hours. Tropical Freeze is 29 hours for completionist.

I haven't played Tropical Freeze because I'm hurting for money right now but in Returns there were a lot of cart and scrolling levels. Too many if you ask me, almost an entire world dedicated to them. How much has changed with Tropical freeze?

There's less but they are all great. Sawmill Thrill is the best minecart level in the whole series.
 

Shiggy

Member
- Because it's yet another sequel on Wii U (ok, true for a lot of games this gen)
- Because it doesn't add that much more to the series
- Because the Wii U already has a lot of 2D platformers and could've benefited from a 3D platformer
- Because it looked like a Wii game in HD
 

Ace 8095

Member
I'll tell you why I snubbed it.

Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games and I didn't care for Retro's first Donkey Kong game.

I'm not saying it's not a fantastic 2d platformer, I just don't really care for that genre anymore.
 

MrBadger

Member
On how long to beat, DKC Returns for completionist takes about 37 hours. Tropical Freeze is 29 hours for completionist.

I haven't played Tropical Freeze because I'm hurting for money right now but in Returns there were a lot of cart and scrolling levels. Too many if you ask me, almost an entire world dedicated to them. How much has changed with Tropical freeze?

Huge improvements. The instant fail state is gone so you can take two hits and get hearts, and Retro really exploit the on rails nature of these stages by doing more creative things with the visuals and level transitions. I hated the mine cart levels in returns, but in Tropical Freeze they're among the best stages.
 
- Because it's yet another sequel on Wii U (ok, true for a lot of games this gen)
- Because it doesn't add that much more to the series
- Because the Wii U already has a lot of 2D platformers and could've benefited from a 3D platformer
- Because it looked like a Wii game in HD
Joke?
 

TI82

Banned
This is a discussion forum. People can disagree while remaining civil. There is no need to start throwing around "defense force" like we are children.

Right, except I'm attacked for having a different opinion. So obviously there is some truth to what I'm saying as it's generally the same group of users that attack the rest of us.

So... yeah.
 
- Because it's yet another sequel on Wii U (ok, true for a lot of games this gen)
- Because it doesn't add that much more to the series
- Because the Wii U already has a lot of 2D platformers and could've benefited from a 3D platformer
- Because it looked like a Wii game in HD

Sadly you just described alot of the first party output on the Wii U. :( I've been generally underwhelmed by the overly conservative approach Nintendo has taken this generation. They made a console around the idea of two screens, and then have done little to nothing to make their games actually use the seconds screen in any meaningful way.

Right, except I'm attacked for having a different opinion. So obviously there is some truth to what I'm saying as it's generally the same group of users that attack the rest of us.

So... yeah.

No, it looks like you are being attacked by overly vitriolic for no reason.
 
Rayman Legends did everything it did but better, there's really little reason to make it seem like a big deal. I loved the Rareware-quality music, but outside of that, it was more of the same on a system that already has great platforming entries.

What, exactly, did Rayman Legends do better?

DK has tighter, more responsive controls.
DK has more unique and memorable level design.
DK has enemies that actually matter and don't just exist for the sake of getting more lums. Every enemy in DK is very deliberately placed to pose a threat. Enemies in Rayman just feel like they're scattered about randomly so you have something to punch.
DK has fucking Dave Wise composing a serious contender for one of the best game soundtracks of all time.
I also vastly preferred having an overworld in DK vs. just jumping into random paintings in Rayman. It made DK feel like a big adventure, whereas Rayman just feels like a collection of levels.

Art style is the only thing that's even debatable.
 

Kacho

Member
Such an amazing game. Finished it last week. Who needs Rare when you have Retro making such a great game... The music is out of this world

Yeah, getting David Wise back was such a great move by Retro. Many of the tunes pulled you in to the level.
 
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